Music Video Regulation

Regulation is the censorship or banning of information. Censorship was first used in World War I to prevent the spread of information that could be useful to the enemy. Locations and times were marked with a black stamp to avoid giving the enemy an advantage. Age ratings for movies came around that time. Up until 1985 these ratings for movies were optional, then they became enforced. people could not buy or rent movies if their age was under the certificate. Later these age ratings would be enforced for games, because of cases like Mortal Kombat.

Music video age ratings and parental advisory warnings came much later, partly due to MTV's censorship. There was arguments on whether MTV censored too much, as they were very politically correct. Source

Cher's video of her performing on a battleship was initially banned by MTV for being too sexualised. Cher wore fishnet stockings and revealing clothes for her music video, which came out in 1989. Later MTV unbanned the video, playing it only after 9PM but censored.

This shows that when you had television you could censor. You could also complain to the regulator Ofcom.

 Bjork's Cocoon from 2002 was banned for its sexualised imagery - it's a little weird.


Watershed in the UK and Northern Ireland starts at 9PM and ends at 5:30AM the next day. PIN protected channels, pay per view and premium subscription services, and digital on demand streaming like Netflix however have more relaxed rules. It is Ofcom's job to control the Watershed. The watershed is put in place to protect children from adult content. Anything viewed past watershed is allowed to feature adult themes like sex, gambling and violence. TV shows may not air whatever they want then, as there is still restrictions on potentially harmful content. Adverts have to follow these rules too.

Music Video Examples
 http://www.vevo.com/watch/robin-thicke/blurred-lines-%28unrated-version%29/USUV71300526
This link will show you the unrated version of the video.

Blurred Lines was banned and censored for lyrics promoting date rape. The music video has Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell Williams dancing with almost naked girls. The music video director Diane Martel said in an interview with Jordan Feldstein "I knew it would get it banned quickly ... Getting something banned actually helps you."

https://vimeo.com/11219730
Born Free by M.I.A's music video is about people being killed because of race, gender, or other differences. They show this by replacing something that would be more realistic like muslims for example, and replace them with gingers, so it makes more sense to a western audience. In the video a ginger gets blown up in slow motion, with no details hidden, and quite close up. These two videos were both uploaded to websites other than youtube because they were re-uploaded to these websites after being banned.

My music video will not have controversial themes, so I won't have to worry about regulation. The song is copyrighted, however Chet Faker's website has contact information which we will need clearance from to post the video to Youtube.